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When robots are used to manipulate objects in various ways, they often have to consider the dynamic constraint. Machine learning is a good candidate for such complex trajectory planning problems. H...

With the objective of enhancing our understanding of student travel patterns, we examine their mode and departure time choice for discretionary trip purposes. In our study, we hypothesize that stud...

A large part of prior research about international performance involves a process of identifying the factors associated with enhanced performance. Such research addresses the relationship between past international strategy and performance. Stages-of-internationalization models, however, suggest that performance at a given stage has implications for the future behavior of exporting firms. Success at an early stage may move firms to more advanced stages. Conversely, failure at an internationalization stage may move firms to less advanced stages or to cease exporting altogether. The purpose of this inquiry is to draw upon for the first time, in a services marketing context, the customer satisfaction literature so as to examine the relationships between export performance, disconfirmation of prior expectations, satisfaction with export performance, the importance of exporting to the attainment of future firm goals, and future export intentions. Thus, it serves to further our understanding of the res...

This research investigated the nature of breakpoints in trajectories of group development, as outlined in Poole's Multiple Sequence Model of group development. After clarifying breakpoints as they exist in group interaction, the authors analyzed the utility of the concept of breakpoints as they function to signal groups to pursue new trajectories of development. An examination of group interaction revealed five tentative conclusions: (1) Trajectories of group development require maintenance through the repeated use of routing statements; (2) Trajectories are typically introduced and maintained by prospective routing statements; (3) Group development often follows a trial‐and‐error pattern of issue introduction which functions to affirm the existence of a developmental trajectory; (4) Agenda‐setting statements can lead to breakpoints if properly timed; and (5) Procedural statements may constitute breakpoints when associated with a substantive issue relevant to the group's task. Limitations of this study, a...

This study compares two mutually exclusive models of small group decision‐making processes. The unitary sequence model—the classical model of decision development—assumes that all groups follow the same sequence of phases. The alternative, the multiple sequence model, assumes that different groups follow different sequences. The models were tested with data from two sets of groups: student groups performing a ranking task and groups of physicians performing a program planning task. Results of the study support the multiple sequence model and suggest revisions in current theories of decision development.

This paper argues that traditional models of group decision making as a series of discrete, consecutive phases are inadequate. It advocates replacing them by a more complex and accurate model of continuously‐developing threads of group activity. In section I the phasic model is evaluated in view of recent research on decision development in small groups. To overcome several problems with the phasic model section II develops a new model, which conceptualizes decision development as a set of continuously evolving tracks of activity, intertwining over time. Based on previous research, this model advances a new descriptive system, which specifies (a) three tracks of group activity, (b) several types of “breakpoints” which mark changes in the development of the strands, and (c) a structural model of task accomplishment. The interrelations among the three descriptive components give a more complex and accurate picture of decision development than the phasic model. In section III, two explanatory factors which d...

Four experiments examined the influence of observing a correct model (CM), a learning sequence model (LSM), and an incorrect model (IM) on the performance of two motor skills. The results of experiment 1 showed that the CM and LSM conditions facilitated performance on the first 10 trails, but not thereafter when compared to the IM group and a control group. Experiment 2 showed that performance estimation was improved by observing the CM and LSM conditions, indicating that information was conveyed by observing these models. Experiment 3 revealed pronounced modeling effects on a difficult motor skill for the CM and LSM conditions which were sustained throughout the 60 practice trials. Experiment 4 showed no differences in performance between a live model demonstrating correctly and a filmed model demonstrating correctly. The findings from the 4 experiments were discussed in terms of the information conveyed through observation and its function in the development of the cognitive components of a mot...